IU Northwest News

The voice of Commencement

Of all the ways Despina Liaskos gives back to IU Northwest, her voice is among her most beautiful contributions

Thursday May 02, 2019

At the Genesis Convention Center in Gary each May, an events team from Bloomington, Indiana rolls up and unloads all the pomp and pageantry fit for an Indiana University Commencement ceremony.

The chairs, the platform, the banners, the crimson and creme floral arrangements, the Latin-inscribed seal that presides over the arena. And because no ceremony of this caliber could ever be complete without music, the musical quartet is there early, giving themselves plenty of time to get ready for IU Northwest’s Annual Commencement.

Once the friends and families of Indiana University Northwest’s graduates are seated and the ceremony gets underway, a full lyric soprano voice joins the quartet’s version of the national anthem, rising high above everyone in attendance.

The crowd quiets. Heads turn. Who is she? Is she a professional opera singer?

She did have professional training — two music degrees from Ball State University and University of Akron, in fact — but it’s her degree from IU Northwest that brings her to this stage.

Meet Despina Liaskos, a dedicated and decorated alumna of the School of Business and Economics. The Valparaiso resident earned her master’s in business administration in 2008 and currently teaches business classes at Munster High School.

She spent several years as the president of the IU Northwest Alumni Association and serves on the IU Northwest Board of Advisors. In 2017, IU presented her with the prestigious President’s Alumni Award, which honors individuals who help provide opportunities for their fellow alumni and friends to stay connected with IU. It is the IU Alumni Association’s premier achievement.

“It’s such an honor to be invited to sing at Commencement,” Liaskos says. “The Jacobs School of Music at IU Bloomington is one of the world’s most prestigious music schools. They could ask any of those students to sing at Commencement. Instead, I’m the voice! It truly is an honor.”

Liaskos took the place of Garrett Cope, a beloved IU Northwest faculty member who has since passed away. That was nine years ago.

While she is the main event to open the ceremony, as well as the conclusion with her rendition of “Hail to Old IU,” Liaskos serves as the accompaniment during the conference of degrees.

While the other IU Northwest Commencement ceremony icon, Emeritus Professor Kenneth Schoon, concentrates on the task of announcing each graduate, Liaskos gets the honor of shaking every one of their hands, and sometimes adding a hug to those she knows personally.

As the alumni association’s president, her touch symbolizes the conference of a new title to each member of the class, that of alumna or alumnus.

“Graduation is such a great time,” she said. “All that hard work finally pays off. It’s a new beginning. It’s so much fun to be a part of such a big celebration with so much energy and positivity. I look forward to this every year.”